AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

Monday, February 25, 2013

The Academy Awards had a special presenter last night.Michelle Obama, with the help of Jack
Nicholson, announced the award for Best Picture.

It was midnight (White House time) and Mrs. Obama was in a silver
Naeem Khan gown and surrounded by members of the military in dress uniform.It was all quite natural – just your regular
midnight Oscar party.

Or was it?Seth
MacFarlane, master of the unexpected, was the host for the Oscar festivities.He brought a chuckle to the typically somber
Tommy Lee Jones and gave a fanciful welcome to Meryl Streep as an actress
needing no introduction.He seemed
primed to take on the rich and the powerful.

But did he?

While Mr. MacFarlane poked fun at pretention and phoniness
throughout the evening, he had no comment for Mrs. Obama’s time on the national
stage.Her appearance was cast as a
natural and appropriate event.

And what was the “event”?It was the First lady giving a short speech, with uniformed service
members in the background.The men and
women of the military displayed a choreographed sense of awe, with their eyes
fixed on the back of Mrs. Obama’s head and frozen smiles in place for the
cameras.

It was an instance of the “adoring Americans” staging we see
so frequently these days.Whether it is
factory workers, first responders, college students or military members,
Americans from various identity groups are used as props for political
messaging. They display their adoration as
the cameras roll.

We “get it,” but it still seems oddly inappropriate.Our military service members, in particular, deserve better
than to be used as a prop.

What’s the takeaway from the 2013 Oscars?I think our entertainment industry has
exposed a new reality.

In the 21st century, the only thing it holds sacred
is the Democratic Party.

UPDATE:Ann Althouse sees the use of military personnel as props inappropriate as well.

UPDATE 2/27/2013:Joanna Weiss at The Boston Globe fashions herself as one who seeks out the underlying story in the news. On 2/26/2013, she pens a column on the Oscar presentation by Michelle Obama and discusses the portent and reaction to Mrs. Obama's remarks, but doesn't mention the staging of Those Adoring Americans. It's as if they are "so right and natural" that no mention need be made...